IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR …

1 Page 1 January 11, 2018 IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE SOUTHER DISTRICT OF TEXAS In re: By the COURT BANKRUPTCY Local Rules BANKRUPTCY Local Rules Effective December 1, 20171 Local Rule 1001-1. General. (a) These rules may be cited as the " BANKRUPTCY Local Rules" or "BLR". (b) In addition to these rules, the Local Rules of the District COURT , the Administrative Procedures for CM/ECF, and the standing and general orders govern practice in the BANKRUPTCY COURT . (c) The COURT s website, contains: (1) Judges schedules (2) Dates for setting hearings (3) Forms referenced in these rules (4) Judges individual COURT procedures (5) Rules for chapter 11 cases designated as complex cases (6) General and standing orders (d) A judge may modify the application of the rules in any case.

2 (e) The forms referenced in these rules are on the COURT s website ( ). Official Forms referenced in these rules are nationally promulgated forms and may be found via a link on the COURT s website. (f) All citations to statutory sections are to Title 11 of the UNITED STATES Code ( , the BANKRUPTCY Code) unless otherwise specified. 1 Technically revised January 11, 2018 to renumber Local Rules 6007-1 and 6007-2 to achieve consistency with certain official forms published by the COURT . Page 2 January 11, 2018 Local Rule 1002-1. Commencement of Case. (a) Corporate or partnership parties must be represented by counsel at all times.

3 (b) Cases should be filed in the division of the debtor s principal location , as defined in subparagraphs (c) and (d). Absent good cause, cases filed outside of the debtor s principal location will be transferred by the COURT sua sponte or on motion of a party. (c) For an individual debtor, the debtor's principal location is the county of the debtor's principal residence or domicile for the longest portion of the 180 days preceding the date of the petition. If an individual debtor did not have a principal residence or domicile within the Southern District of Texas for at least 91 days before the filing of the petition, the individual debtor's principal location is the county of the debtor's principal assets within the Southern District of Texas.

4 (d) For a debtor that is not an individual, the debtor's principal location is the county of the debtor's principal executive offices or principal assets, if either has been located within the Southern District of Texas for at least 91 days prior to the filing of the petition. Local Rule 1007-1. Supporting Documents. (a) On schedules D and E/F of Official Form 106, creditors must be in alphabetical order. (b) Official Form 121 must be submitted to the clerk with conventionally filed petitions and must be submitted to the clerk within 7 days of electronically filed petitions. (c) In all Chapter 13 Cases, the debtor must file with the plan: (1) If the debtor is a wage or salary employee, the debtor must file a wage order with service on the Trustee; or (2) If the debtor is not a wage or salary employee, the debtor must file on the forms promulgated from time to time by the COURT : (A) a proposed Order For EFT Payments (Online Banking) and Debtor s Certification; or (B) a proposed Order For ACH Payments and Debtor s Certification.

5 Page 3 January 11, 2018 (3) If there are extraordinary circumstances justifying an exception to (1) or (2) above, the debtor may file a motion to allow direct payment of funds to the Trustee. Local Rule 1009-1. Amendments of Voluntary Petitions and Their Supporting Documents. (a) If an amendment or supplement is filed to add a creditor or to change the status, classification, or amount owed a creditor, no later than two days after the filing, the debtor must: (1) Serve the amendment by first class mail, postage prepaid, on the trustee, trustee, and all creditors affected by the amendment, (2) File a certificate of service, (3) File an amended mailing list in the form directed by the clerk, and (4) Pay the filing fee.

6 (b) Amendments to schedules must be marked to identify added, deleted or changed information. (c) If it appears to the COURT or trustee that the supporting documents need to be amended, the COURT or trustee may notify the debtor, specifying the items, documents, and time for amendment. (d) If the debtor moves to correct an erroneous social security number, the debtor must serve all parties in interest. The proposed form of order must extend the deadline for objecting to exemptions and discharge if necessary. Local Rule 1014-1. Intradistrict Transfer. On motion of a party in interest or on its own motion, the judge may transfer a case, an adversary proceeding, or a contested proceeding to another judge or division in this district.

7 This rule does not apply to the reassignment of a judge following a recusal. Local Rule 1015-1. Joint Administration. (a) Motions and proposed orders for joint administration should itemize the requested relief. The motion and order must be in the form published on the COURT s website. (b) A motion for joint administration must be made to the judge with the lowest case number. Page 4 January 11, 2018 Local Rule 1017-2. Dismissals. (a) Among the reasons a case may be dismissed for want of prosecution under FED. R. BANKR. P. 1017 are: (1) Incomplete or late schedules filed by the debtor; (2) The failure of a non-individual debtor to act through counsel in the filing of a BANKRUPTCY petition or the prosecution of a case; (3) Unpaid or late filing fees by the debtor; (4) Failure by the debtor to timely file mailing lists of creditors in the prescribed format; (5) Failure by the debtor to include the required creditors list with the petition; (6) Failure by the debtor to timely file the forms required by BLR 1007-1.

8 (7) The debtor s lack of diligent, prompt prosecution through filing of a plan late, missing or incomplete disclosure statement or other document required by the code, rules, or orders; (8) The debtor s failure to attend the 341 creditors meeting; (9) The debtor s failure to timely amend schedules requested by the trustee or the U. S. trustee; and (10) Unpaid trustee quarterly fees. (b) Chapter 13 trustees may file motions to dismiss for non-payment, in the exercise of their discretion, at any time. Chapter 13 trustees must timely file motions to dismiss if the debtor is two monthly payments behind. The hearing must be set at the first panel following the expiration of 28 days after the motion is filed.

9 The form of motion shall be in a form promulgated from time-to-time by the BANKRUPTCY COURT . Responses and requests for hearings on motions to dismiss must be filed not later than 21 days after service. If no timely response is filed, the COURT may dismiss the case without a hearing, at its discretion. (c) In chapter 13 cases, federal tax issues will be governed by the following procedures: (1) At or before 7 days before the date first set for the first 341 meeting of creditors, the Internal Revenue Service must send a tax transcript to the chapter 13 trustee, the debtor and debtor s counsel. Page 5 January 11, 2018 (2) Within 7 days after the 341 meeting of creditors, the trustee must file a motion to dismiss any chapter 13 case in which the IRS transcript reflects a delinquent return for a period in which taxes would be entitled to a priority.

10 The motion shall be in a form published from time-to-time on the COURT s website. (3) Within 21 days after the chapter 13 trustee has filed a motion to dismiss a case based on delinquent tax returns, the debtor must file a response to the motion. (4) If all tax returns that are the subject of a motion under BLR 1017-2(b) have not been filed, the plan will not be confirmed. If all tax returns have been filed, the COURT may confirm the plan or may deny confirmation based on an estimate of the IRS s claim pursuant to 502(c). The order confirming the plan will provide that the plan has been confirmed based on an estimate of the debtor s tax liability and that the actual amount payable by the debtor in order to discharge the tax liability will be the actual amount determined based on the allowance of the tax claim, without regard for any provision in the plan to the contrary.